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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it will phase in enforcement of its new fall-protection rules through Sept. 15. The policy concerns some because it will end the use of the known and functional sliding guards that roofing crews are used to, according to Tom Shanahan, associate executive director of risk management for the National Roofing Contractors Association.

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has postponed the enforcement date of new fall-protection rules for residential construction to March 15, and the move provides a chance to seek changes to the measures, said Tom Shanahan, associate executive director of the National Roofing Contractors Association. "This wasn't what I expected, but it's a good thing," he said. A requirement for the use of fall-protection equipment, for example, could result in trip hazards on lower-pitched roofs, according to NRCA.

Although new fall-protection rules from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration could increase costs for roofing contractors, some in the insurance industry say the rules will also decrease the cost of workers compensation insurance. In some instances, alternative safety measures may be used, but "any alternative fall protection plan must be written and site-specific and prepared by a qualified safety professional," according to David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA.

The new fall-protection measures from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration could strain roofing contractors since the rules could require extra work and higher bids without the assurance of safety, according to Tom Shanahan of the National Roofing Contractors Association. "We're talking about the same endpoint as OSHA, which is safety," Shanahan said. "Contractors have to deal in a marketplace where price is king, and they are telling us that this is adding to their bids."

It is vital to engage in fall-protection measures, says the National Roofing Contractors Association, but new rules from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration could mean roofing contractors will be less safe, said Tom Shanahan of the NRCA. "OSHA is overstepping its bounds because it doesn't understand the industry," Shanahan said. "They're making a rule that is making it, in many cases, more costly to roof and less safe."

Wayne Boivin, a roofing contractor who was hurt in a fall in 2005, likes the new fall-protection rules issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. However, some roofing crews are not so happy. They cite the $150 cost of the harness system and say the the system slows down their work and the harness lines pose a tripping hazard.